Five alumni of the Yale Divinity School were given Awards for Distinction at the fall convocation on Oct. 9. Kenneth W. Clapp, president of the YDS Alumnal Board, introduced the award recipients, and YDS Dean Richard J. Wood made the presentations. This year's recipients are:
Talitha J. Arnold '80 M.Div., who was cited for "Distinction Among Recent Graduates." After graduating from YDS, she was acting assistant university chaplain at Yale. She then served the First Church of Christ of Middletown, Connecticut, where she organized a major interfaith resettlement of Cambodian refugees. Her current congregation, the United Church of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has more than doubled its membership under her leadership, and programs in children's and youth ministry and adult education have flourished. Earl G. Harrison '59 B.D., who was honored for "Lay Ministry within the Church." Mr. Harrison has devoted his career to elementary and secondary education. A member of the Religious Society of Friends, he has been an educator and administrator in several Friends' schools and has served as head of The Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. since 1978. Under his leadership, the school has become known for its community service initiatives as well as for its strong academic and athletic programs, and the racial, ethnic and religious diversity of its student body.
Stanley M. Hauerwas '65 B.D., '67 M.A., '68 Ph.D. was honored by YDS for "Theological Scholarship and Education." Currently the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke University's Divinity School, he is an authority in theological ethics and has taught at Notre Dame, Georgetown, the University of Texas Medical School, the University of Chicago, Union Theological Seminary, and other institutions. He is author of "Naming the Silences: God, Medicine, and the Problem of Suffering," "After Christendom," "Unleashing the Scripture: Freeing the Bible from Captivity to America" and, most recently, "In Good Company: The Church as Polis."
Dr. G. Scott Morris '80 M.Div., who was honored for "Distinction in Community Service." Dr. Morris is founding director of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tennessee, a church-based clinic that provides holistic medical care to those in need. Over the years, Dr. Morris (who earned his medical degree at Emory University Medical School) has recruited hundreds of physicians, dentists, and other medical professionals to volunteer their time to the clinic. He is author of articles on ethics and the church's role in health care, and editor of "Hope and Healing: Words from the Clergy of a Southern City."
George E. Todd '51 B.D., who was honored for "Ordained Ministry within the Church." An advocate for the poor throughout his 40-year career in the ministry, Mr. Todd, while still a student at YDS, helped found the Oak Street Christian Parish in New Haven. His pioneering urban ministry at East Harlem Protestant Parish in New York City became the model for many other ministries across the United States. As head of the Office of Urban Ministry for the United Presbyterian Church, USA, he was instrumental in forming a coalition with other denominations to work for better housing, education, and racial integration in American cities. As director of the Office of Rural-Urban Mission of the World Council of Churches, he introduced strategies of community organization throughout developing countries.